Phil Yff
2007-03-03 03:27:50 UTC
We swing into action mode for quite a few episodes. The is just the start
of hostilities but we have a special treat. Without further ado,
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
!
The name of episode 117 was given during last week's preview: Rukia, Combat
Commences! The Frozen White Blade. As you can glean from the title, the
special treat is seeing Rukia in action and seeing her wield her
zanpakutou.
We have the usual preamble that takes us through the warring factions.
Then, a brief synopsis of episode 116 that states that an Arrancar,
Grimjaw, who was dissatisfied with the leniency Urquiola had shown towards
Ichigo has gone to the world of the living with five of his comrades to
take matters into his own hands. He senses that Shinigami from Soul
Society have arrived as reinforcements. Grimjaw orders his cohorts to seek
and kill anyone out who has any reiatsu (spirit pressure) and leave no
survivors.
Bleach 117 appears on screen
Ichigo senses something is amiss and recognizes the same sensation he had
when fighting Urquiola and Yamii. Rukia has the latest Soul Society PDA
and like Jack in "24" knows instantly the number and disposition of the
enemy - six in all. Rukia deduces the enemy is attacking anyone with
reiatsu and tells Ichigo. Ichigo feels that Ishida is safe because he
doesn't have any reiatsu left. Rukia feels that Orihime is well protected
with Matsumoto and Hitsugaya nearby. Ichigo worries about Chad and Rukia
confirms his fears by informing him that one of the enemy is approaching
Chad.
Elsewhere, Madarame and Ayasegawa sense the threat, transform into
Shinigami form, and take off in the direction of the enemy heading in their
direction. At the same time, we see Hitsugaya transform into Shinigami
form as Matsumoto, already transformed, joins him. He asks about Orihime
and Matsumoto tells him that she had asked Orihime to protect her gigai so
she would not feel compelled to join the fight. If you'll recall from last
episode, Matsumoto was staying with Orihime, but Hitsugaya stayed outside
on the rooftop so as not to give off any appearance of impropriety.
In an instant, two Arrancar appear. Even though Hitsugaya and Matsumoto
are commander and vice commander respectively, they are impressed by their
blinding speed. One of them engages Hitsugaya and introduces himself as
the eleventh Arrancar, Syaoran. (Note: When the Arrancar identify
themselves, they give their name and a Spanish number albeit with a strong
Japanese accent). Hitsugaya identifies himself by full name and rank -
Unit Commander of the Tenth Unit, Hitsugaya Toushirou. Syaoran considers
himself fortunate to have such an esteemed opponent. Hitsugaya cautions
him and says he feels Syaoran is most unfortunate.
Meanwhile, Chad, sensing something is amiss, heads outside and is attacked
by an Arrancar with a smart mouth. The fatal blow he attempts to deliver
is stopped short by Ichigo who arrives in the nick of time and tells the
Arrancar to save his smartass remarks. Chad is dumbstruck. He realizes he
would have died had Ichigo not intervened. Ichigo tells him to fall back
that he'll handle things. Chad despondently after protesting a bit agrees
to let Ichigo take over. He passes Rukia while retreating who asks him if
he's okay. He doesn't answer but thinks to himself if Ichigo will ever
again entrust him to watch his back. He feels with regret that he is no
longer strong enough to be able to fight alongside Ichigo.
Ichigo gets ready to fight the Arrancar. Rukia steps up and mentions she
had encountered Chad on her way there. She asks Ichigo what he had said to
Chad. He replies saying nothing - he merely told Chad to step aside so he
could take care of things. Turnaround's fair play so Rukia tells Ichigo to
step aside and let her handle matters. She points out he is too much on
edge to fight effectively. Rukia transforms into her Shinigami form
astonishing Ichigo to the point that he does not object to her taking over.
He had not been aware that she had recovered her Shinigami powers. She
assures him that she had and explains the process whereby she had returned
to full strength.
In the midst of this pseudo-scientific discussion, Rukia's gigai
(artificial body) throws herself at Ichigo, hugs him, and starts making
cutesy comments. Rukia tells him the gikongan (artificial soul pill -
dispensed from Pez-like containers) she had her gigai injest was the most
popular gikon (artificial soul) among women Shinigami. Her name is Chappy.
She mentions that when she first came to the land of the living, this was
the gikongan she wanted but was erroneously given Kon instead. While
trying to fight off the spastic Chappy, Ichigo realizes that there were
worse alternatives to Kon and that he could have been stuck with the ditzy
Chappy in his body instead of Kon.
The Arrancar who had been waiting patiently through all of these
shenanigens decides enough is enough. He launches an attack, identifying
himself as the sixteenth Arrancar DeRoy. Rukia starts to identify herself
but DeRoy arrogantly says that he can't be bothered with details like the
names of the people he kills. Sounds like famous last words. If Rukia had
been easy to kill she would have bought the farm during the Soul Society
arc.
Rukia responds by saying he should at least learn and heed her Zanpakutou's
name. We recall that a Zanpakutou is unsealed by naming it and giving it a
command. Rukia invokes her Zanpakutou by saying Dance, Sode no Shirayuki
(Sleeve of Snow: Sode means sleeve and Shirayuki (白雪) is a poetic word for
snow - the two kanji mean white and snow respectively but the combination
is simply translated as snow). Rukia's shikai (initial release) is really
cool and elegant. Her sword in this form is ivory white with a long ribbon
like rhythmic gymnast's ribbon at the end. Like a gymnast, the white
ribbon traces a helical shape against the night sky. Rukia next invokes a
special technique - Some no Mai: Tsukishiro (First Dance: Moonlit Sky -
Tsukishiro literally means moon white and is a specialized term to refer to
a night sky lit up by a full moon).
At that command, DeRoy is enveloped in ice but manages to leap free up into
the air. He taunts Rukia saying what a shame that his domain is the sky
and that her feeble ground attack can't touch him. DeRoy is has a whole
repertoire of famous last words and Rukia throws his 'what a shame' right
back at him telling him it is not a ground attack but a cylindrical pillar
creating a frozen domain stretching from earth to heaven. Sure enough, as
one would expect from a technique called "Moonlit Sky", DeRoy was quickly
engulphed by a pillar of ice stretching to heavens. Sayonara DeRoy.
Eyecatch!
Meanwhile Ichigo has been having a much harder time coping with Chappy than
Rukia had with DeRoy. Chappy has Ichigo in a wrestling hold on the ground
and is tormenting him both physically and by ending all her sentences with
the ultra-perky 'dapyon'. Chappy apparently has taken her marching orders
to heart and is doing everything in her power to keep Ichigo out of Rukia's
way. Rukia who doesn't tolerate fools gladly asks the tawakedomo what they
are doing (tawakedomo is the plural of tawake [knucklehead -
shit-for-brains] and Rukia's favorite pet-name for Ichigo).
Surprised, Ichigo asks Rukia if she's okay - kind of stupid of him, she
hasn't even broken into a sweat. He asks what happened to her opponent,
had she beaten him. She snaps irately, "Of course, otherwise I would have
had no reason to return." Ichigo's still on the ground, but Chappy has
relaxed her grip enough for him to get his bearings. He spots Rukia's
zanpakutou and is amazed at its beauty. Chappy explains that in of the
snow and ice class of zanpakutous that Rukia's is famous for being the most
exquisite - the blade, the hilt, the handle, a zanpakutou of the purest
white. Of course, Chappy ends her explanation with a perky 'dapyon'.
Ichigo who had been enthralled snaps to and tells Chappy she ruined the
mood.
Chappy doesn't take criticism well and resumes tormenting Ichigo. While
doing so, she continues her explanation (punctuated with "dapyon's" stating
that Rukia is powerful enough to hold a command position but a certain
person kept her from being appointed in order to keep her safe in a
position of lesser responsibility that exposed her to less danger. That
person was none other than her brother Kuchiki Byakuya dapyon. Those of us
who saw the Soul Society arc know just how good a job Byakuya did keeping
Rukia out of danger dapyon.
Suddenly, Grimjaw appears and introduces himself as the sixth Arrancar,
Grimjaw. He doesn't seem very surprised or upset that DeRoy bit the dust.
He simply observes it can't be helped he'll just have to kill the two of
them - apparently, Chappy doesn't interest him or she kept a low enough
profile that he didn't notice her.
Elsewhere, Il Forte and Edorad note that DeRoy's bought the farm and are
not surprised. They didn't think much of him and don't seem upset that he
didn't last long. As Madarame and Ayasegawa engage Il Forte and Edorad,
the normally hyper Keigo wanders the streets, down in the dumps, wondering
why Mizuho can't buy his own juice. He's upset that he's been seeing
ghosts and he reminds himself that he doesn't believe in them. Madarame
falls down on the street in front of him. In disbelief, Keigo remembers
that Madarame was the new student who carried around a bokutou (wooden
sword).
Edorad asks Madarame if that's all there is to him. Madarame has bigger
issues on his mind than fighting the Arrancar. Earlier, he had been
looking for a place to stay. He sees an opportunity. He points out to
Keigo that the kid's life is in grave danger and if Keigo agrees to put him
and Ayasegawa up for a spell, he'll keep him out of harm's way. Keigo is a
bit slow on the uptake - he's a little freaked out by Shinigami's and
repeats the word several times. Eventually realizes that offering to
provide lodging for Madarame and Ayasegawa is a fairly decent price to pay
for his life.
Once Keigo learns how to answer the simple yes or no request in the
affirmative, Madarame is reinvigorated. He asks his opponent his name.
Edorad starts to say that he's the thirteenth Arrancar but breaks off in
mid sentence. He says he doesn't have to identify himself to someone he's
about to kill. Madarame says they must have different styles. He says
it's his custom to give his name as a courtesy to the person he's about to
kill.
To be continued...
Next week: Ikkaku bankai! Subete wo kudaku chikara (Ikkaku - Total Release!
Power that Shatters All)
Mata ato de,
Phil Yff
of hostilities but we have a special treat. Without further ado,
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
!
The name of episode 117 was given during last week's preview: Rukia, Combat
Commences! The Frozen White Blade. As you can glean from the title, the
special treat is seeing Rukia in action and seeing her wield her
zanpakutou.
We have the usual preamble that takes us through the warring factions.
Then, a brief synopsis of episode 116 that states that an Arrancar,
Grimjaw, who was dissatisfied with the leniency Urquiola had shown towards
Ichigo has gone to the world of the living with five of his comrades to
take matters into his own hands. He senses that Shinigami from Soul
Society have arrived as reinforcements. Grimjaw orders his cohorts to seek
and kill anyone out who has any reiatsu (spirit pressure) and leave no
survivors.
Bleach 117 appears on screen
Ichigo senses something is amiss and recognizes the same sensation he had
when fighting Urquiola and Yamii. Rukia has the latest Soul Society PDA
and like Jack in "24" knows instantly the number and disposition of the
enemy - six in all. Rukia deduces the enemy is attacking anyone with
reiatsu and tells Ichigo. Ichigo feels that Ishida is safe because he
doesn't have any reiatsu left. Rukia feels that Orihime is well protected
with Matsumoto and Hitsugaya nearby. Ichigo worries about Chad and Rukia
confirms his fears by informing him that one of the enemy is approaching
Chad.
Elsewhere, Madarame and Ayasegawa sense the threat, transform into
Shinigami form, and take off in the direction of the enemy heading in their
direction. At the same time, we see Hitsugaya transform into Shinigami
form as Matsumoto, already transformed, joins him. He asks about Orihime
and Matsumoto tells him that she had asked Orihime to protect her gigai so
she would not feel compelled to join the fight. If you'll recall from last
episode, Matsumoto was staying with Orihime, but Hitsugaya stayed outside
on the rooftop so as not to give off any appearance of impropriety.
In an instant, two Arrancar appear. Even though Hitsugaya and Matsumoto
are commander and vice commander respectively, they are impressed by their
blinding speed. One of them engages Hitsugaya and introduces himself as
the eleventh Arrancar, Syaoran. (Note: When the Arrancar identify
themselves, they give their name and a Spanish number albeit with a strong
Japanese accent). Hitsugaya identifies himself by full name and rank -
Unit Commander of the Tenth Unit, Hitsugaya Toushirou. Syaoran considers
himself fortunate to have such an esteemed opponent. Hitsugaya cautions
him and says he feels Syaoran is most unfortunate.
Meanwhile, Chad, sensing something is amiss, heads outside and is attacked
by an Arrancar with a smart mouth. The fatal blow he attempts to deliver
is stopped short by Ichigo who arrives in the nick of time and tells the
Arrancar to save his smartass remarks. Chad is dumbstruck. He realizes he
would have died had Ichigo not intervened. Ichigo tells him to fall back
that he'll handle things. Chad despondently after protesting a bit agrees
to let Ichigo take over. He passes Rukia while retreating who asks him if
he's okay. He doesn't answer but thinks to himself if Ichigo will ever
again entrust him to watch his back. He feels with regret that he is no
longer strong enough to be able to fight alongside Ichigo.
Ichigo gets ready to fight the Arrancar. Rukia steps up and mentions she
had encountered Chad on her way there. She asks Ichigo what he had said to
Chad. He replies saying nothing - he merely told Chad to step aside so he
could take care of things. Turnaround's fair play so Rukia tells Ichigo to
step aside and let her handle matters. She points out he is too much on
edge to fight effectively. Rukia transforms into her Shinigami form
astonishing Ichigo to the point that he does not object to her taking over.
He had not been aware that she had recovered her Shinigami powers. She
assures him that she had and explains the process whereby she had returned
to full strength.
In the midst of this pseudo-scientific discussion, Rukia's gigai
(artificial body) throws herself at Ichigo, hugs him, and starts making
cutesy comments. Rukia tells him the gikongan (artificial soul pill -
dispensed from Pez-like containers) she had her gigai injest was the most
popular gikon (artificial soul) among women Shinigami. Her name is Chappy.
She mentions that when she first came to the land of the living, this was
the gikongan she wanted but was erroneously given Kon instead. While
trying to fight off the spastic Chappy, Ichigo realizes that there were
worse alternatives to Kon and that he could have been stuck with the ditzy
Chappy in his body instead of Kon.
The Arrancar who had been waiting patiently through all of these
shenanigens decides enough is enough. He launches an attack, identifying
himself as the sixteenth Arrancar DeRoy. Rukia starts to identify herself
but DeRoy arrogantly says that he can't be bothered with details like the
names of the people he kills. Sounds like famous last words. If Rukia had
been easy to kill she would have bought the farm during the Soul Society
arc.
Rukia responds by saying he should at least learn and heed her Zanpakutou's
name. We recall that a Zanpakutou is unsealed by naming it and giving it a
command. Rukia invokes her Zanpakutou by saying Dance, Sode no Shirayuki
(Sleeve of Snow: Sode means sleeve and Shirayuki (白雪) is a poetic word for
snow - the two kanji mean white and snow respectively but the combination
is simply translated as snow). Rukia's shikai (initial release) is really
cool and elegant. Her sword in this form is ivory white with a long ribbon
like rhythmic gymnast's ribbon at the end. Like a gymnast, the white
ribbon traces a helical shape against the night sky. Rukia next invokes a
special technique - Some no Mai: Tsukishiro (First Dance: Moonlit Sky -
Tsukishiro literally means moon white and is a specialized term to refer to
a night sky lit up by a full moon).
At that command, DeRoy is enveloped in ice but manages to leap free up into
the air. He taunts Rukia saying what a shame that his domain is the sky
and that her feeble ground attack can't touch him. DeRoy is has a whole
repertoire of famous last words and Rukia throws his 'what a shame' right
back at him telling him it is not a ground attack but a cylindrical pillar
creating a frozen domain stretching from earth to heaven. Sure enough, as
one would expect from a technique called "Moonlit Sky", DeRoy was quickly
engulphed by a pillar of ice stretching to heavens. Sayonara DeRoy.
Eyecatch!
Meanwhile Ichigo has been having a much harder time coping with Chappy than
Rukia had with DeRoy. Chappy has Ichigo in a wrestling hold on the ground
and is tormenting him both physically and by ending all her sentences with
the ultra-perky 'dapyon'. Chappy apparently has taken her marching orders
to heart and is doing everything in her power to keep Ichigo out of Rukia's
way. Rukia who doesn't tolerate fools gladly asks the tawakedomo what they
are doing (tawakedomo is the plural of tawake [knucklehead -
shit-for-brains] and Rukia's favorite pet-name for Ichigo).
Surprised, Ichigo asks Rukia if she's okay - kind of stupid of him, she
hasn't even broken into a sweat. He asks what happened to her opponent,
had she beaten him. She snaps irately, "Of course, otherwise I would have
had no reason to return." Ichigo's still on the ground, but Chappy has
relaxed her grip enough for him to get his bearings. He spots Rukia's
zanpakutou and is amazed at its beauty. Chappy explains that in of the
snow and ice class of zanpakutous that Rukia's is famous for being the most
exquisite - the blade, the hilt, the handle, a zanpakutou of the purest
white. Of course, Chappy ends her explanation with a perky 'dapyon'.
Ichigo who had been enthralled snaps to and tells Chappy she ruined the
mood.
Chappy doesn't take criticism well and resumes tormenting Ichigo. While
doing so, she continues her explanation (punctuated with "dapyon's" stating
that Rukia is powerful enough to hold a command position but a certain
person kept her from being appointed in order to keep her safe in a
position of lesser responsibility that exposed her to less danger. That
person was none other than her brother Kuchiki Byakuya dapyon. Those of us
who saw the Soul Society arc know just how good a job Byakuya did keeping
Rukia out of danger dapyon.
Suddenly, Grimjaw appears and introduces himself as the sixth Arrancar,
Grimjaw. He doesn't seem very surprised or upset that DeRoy bit the dust.
He simply observes it can't be helped he'll just have to kill the two of
them - apparently, Chappy doesn't interest him or she kept a low enough
profile that he didn't notice her.
Elsewhere, Il Forte and Edorad note that DeRoy's bought the farm and are
not surprised. They didn't think much of him and don't seem upset that he
didn't last long. As Madarame and Ayasegawa engage Il Forte and Edorad,
the normally hyper Keigo wanders the streets, down in the dumps, wondering
why Mizuho can't buy his own juice. He's upset that he's been seeing
ghosts and he reminds himself that he doesn't believe in them. Madarame
falls down on the street in front of him. In disbelief, Keigo remembers
that Madarame was the new student who carried around a bokutou (wooden
sword).
Edorad asks Madarame if that's all there is to him. Madarame has bigger
issues on his mind than fighting the Arrancar. Earlier, he had been
looking for a place to stay. He sees an opportunity. He points out to
Keigo that the kid's life is in grave danger and if Keigo agrees to put him
and Ayasegawa up for a spell, he'll keep him out of harm's way. Keigo is a
bit slow on the uptake - he's a little freaked out by Shinigami's and
repeats the word several times. Eventually realizes that offering to
provide lodging for Madarame and Ayasegawa is a fairly decent price to pay
for his life.
Once Keigo learns how to answer the simple yes or no request in the
affirmative, Madarame is reinvigorated. He asks his opponent his name.
Edorad starts to say that he's the thirteenth Arrancar but breaks off in
mid sentence. He says he doesn't have to identify himself to someone he's
about to kill. Madarame says they must have different styles. He says
it's his custom to give his name as a courtesy to the person he's about to
kill.
To be continued...
Next week: Ikkaku bankai! Subete wo kudaku chikara (Ikkaku - Total Release!
Power that Shatters All)
Mata ato de,
Phil Yff